Listen to Suddenly by Kim Bo Kyung : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yFS0QlJmZg

                                                                                WOOHYUN

Everyone was grateful for Joon’s arrogance.

After Kairi and Yong Guk rushed out of the house, with Zelo tugging on Baekhyun’s arm and shouting at the frozen man to move, Joon continued talking about Paragon and its ‘grand scale’ and the General, the ‘Father of the Nation.’ Gandhi would have been kicking and screaming in the grave.

“We don’t have time!” the second youngest team member hollered. Right then and there, half of the room had tried to vacate the headquarters, only for Kris to, in his booming voice, shout at everyone to “be sensible.”

And so it was Zelo, Baekhyun, Luhan, Jiyong and I who ran out, following two disheveled figures. I watched as Kairi pushed herself to run faster, eventually receiving help from Yong Guk who could not help but stare at her in despair. I pried off the jealousy from my conscience and realized that had Kairi been in Jiyeon’s place, I would have felt the same.

Kairi was the one leading, any special memories attached to these familiar alleys now being pushed to the backseat with hatred. She took sharp turns, faltered in her steps, stumbled many times --- but she didn’t stop. For the first time since we had returned to Paragon, I saw the Kairi I had seen when I pointed a gun at her. It felt like a lifetime ago, and for some reason, this felt like déjà vu.

“Here!” he shouted and turned around to get hold of Yong Guk, momentary surprise flitting across her face when she saw the rest of us running behind them. I picked up my legs and leaped towards her, catching hold of her shaking body.

“Calm down---”

“We’re almost there, come on!”

My body jolted the moment I saw the katana hanging from Kairi’s back and a pistol sticking out of Yong Guk’s belt. The preparation to save L.Joe and Taeyeon had helped them in gaining the weaponry needed for this difficult task. Now there were three lives at stake, all of them in full view of the world. Whichever method we used, we would be caught.

“Just listen!” I shouted. The crowd was just a few feet in front of us, ignoring a ragged-looking group of youngsters for the entertainment ahead. “What are you planning to do, huh? Expose all of us?”

Realization dawned on Kairi’s face and I felt a pang of pain when tears began welling up in her eyes. She began blabbering gibberish, continuously pointing to the stage.

“Let’s first go ahead,”Jiyong suggested. “There might be a way to delay the process.”

“Don’t mind this Woohyun,” he continued and gave me a careful look. “But Kairi could be of immense help right now.”

I stiffened. There will be a sacrifice, Siwon had said.

“No.”

“Woohyun!” Kairi exclaimed with exasperation. “Stop it!”

“Kairi,” I said, tightening my hold on her. “I am NOT letting you run out onto the stage, with that huge guillotine hanging from there, only to have us lose not three, but four lives. Get it?!”

“We won’t.”

Everyone turned to look at Yong Guk, the voice of sobriety shocking us. He hesitantly looked away from the center of attention and looked at us. “We need to make a plan. We have psychic out here,” he said, nodding at Luhan, who nodded back. “Joon is weak, we can use him against himself.”

The truth behind Yong Guk’s words and the strong approval on everyone’s faces infuriated me. I felt Kairi placing a hand on my cheek. She looked up at me, hope in her eyes. I shrugged her hand away and spat on the ground.

“Fine,” I hissed. “What’s the plan?”

                                                                                     JIYEON

It was good Kairi wasn’t in my place. This kind of death would have done anything but given peace to her soul.

The moment I had entered the office, the first thing I had done was the obvious: jump into the arms of my ‘father’. What I hadn’t expected were the words he said:

“I knew you would return. Your system wouldn’t have allowed you anything else.”

I remembered furrowing my eyebrows, only later realizing that he was referring to Kairi’s INVICTUS gene. “What?” I had asked. “What does that mean?”

“Joon,” he had called out, the gaze of a stranger befitting him as he watched me being taken away by his minion. I thrown inside a glass box, encased by what looked like gold prison bars. The rectangular glass box had transparent wheels, which transported me from the office to a dark room. Joon wished me luck and before I could respond to the sadistic tone in his voice, I felt the earth moving and my entire presence floating. Next thing I knew, I was rising up to a sea of faces, a young woman and L.Joe in a similar glass box to my right.

The moment L.Joe’s eyes rested on me, he widened his eyes and murmured something to the young woman. The latter looked like she was going to faint and with great difficulty, opened her eyes to catch sight of me. She then furrowed her eyebrows and said something. L.Joe did not seem to agree with what she said, but he narrowed his eyes and suddenly, quiet coherently, shouted, “JIYEON!”

He recognized me.

I looked away, hoping that no one had heard it. Even as I kneeled inside the cold glass jail, the tight sound-proof walls making me deaf to Joon’s speech, I couldn’t understand what had made me step out of the headquarters. It was response-stimuli and for a moment, I had considered giving up and discussing the matter with Kairi.

My eyes scanned the audience and to my amusement, I found a few students of the Institution looking at me. I gave them a whimsical smile and they reeled back in shock. A ripple of murmurs spread out among them and I caught sight of a young girl who gave me a rare glance of sympathy.

“Sorry,” she mouthed. My eyes began stinging as I realized that Paragon still had hope. Suddenly, my peripheral gaze caught sight of a minor commotion.

Kairi was marching towards the stage, her hurried steps moving faster, her deadpan face set on me with enough ferocity to break me free from my chains. Behind her was Woohyun, who didn’t seem so enthusiastic about her actions and following him were the psychic EXO guy, Jiyong, Yong Guk and…

Baekhyun.

As if all my blood had lost itself in him, following his command and getting prepared to drown me, a gush of breath was punched out of my stomach. My torso fell forward, my forehead resting against the cold glass. I closed my eyes and began gasping, trying to control the hysteria that was rising in my throat.

Could they hear me? I wondered. I began howling and found that no one was reacting the way expected. I was mute for them. I was soundless.

I took advantage and began crying loudly, all of a sudden realizing that mourning was against the rules of Paragon. With anger and sorrow bubbling inside me like a deadly mixture, I let it all out.

That did it.

The people in the crowd began looking uncomfortable, some closing their eyes and some staring at me in awe. I lifted my head towards the sky and flashbacked to every memory I had created in this life. Seungyeon unnie, the time when I had rescued Yong Guk, the chance meeting with Baekhyun, Baekhyun…

Years of closing down my emotional receptors made it tough for a successful breakdown and so I looked towards the only person who could trigger any form of violent emotion in me. I didn’t want this to be painful for him, but for the good of all, he would have stand this.

                                                                                  KAIRI

It was predictable, the reaction of the crowd and Joon and a small part of me that was still not used to the range of emotions present in humans. Jiyeon was having a massive breakdown, the beginning of which had made Joon stammer and glare at her. He tried moving on but the expression on the audience’s faces might have weakened his pride even more. He still hadn’t seen me, and in realization of my presence, I snatched the robe from Luhan and wore it over me.

“We… uh… we will…. Now…”

While Joon fumbled for words, his eyes unable to avert from Jiyeon, I found her eyes set on one and only one place. I followed her gaze and found Yong Guk responding to her silent cries with a sad smile. He held his fist against his mouth, his chest shaking as he tried to control his tears. I looked at Baekhyun, who looked like a white veil had clouded his vision, forcing him to guess the nature of the silhouette that was teasing him behind it. He looked frustrated, tired, furious… But when I caught a bleak similarity in their gazes, I realized that Baekhyun and Yong Guk were initiating the ritual of letting go.

“You can’t give up!” I hissed and began moving forward, only to have a strong arm pull me back. Woohyun shot down my glare with a limpid gaze and I gulped, unable to react to this unfamiliar expression.

“We can still---!”

It was like the clap of thunder.

Everything began moving in slow motion, as I moved my eyes from a shocked Woohyun to the stage. The guillotine, which was previously hanging inside the glass box, now stood majestically on the surface with its bloody confetti lying splattered around it. Seconds later, I caught sight of dark brown hair with blonde highlights, rolling under the sunlight.

“Kairi----”

                                                                                  L.JOE

The axe dropped and Jiyeon’s head rolled on the floor. Taeyeon shrieked, then instantly bit her lip to quieten herself. I heard her muttering Suho’s name and a hundred ‘I love yous’. My heart ached and nostalgia hit me.

“You useless piece of ,” the woman drawled, the strength of alcohol seeping out in her breath and her tone. She marched towards me, who was sitting underneath the table.

What had I done? Nothing. Or maybe, if I searched properly, I would found a reason. Maybe I was so ugly that my mother would want to tear the skin away from my face, trying to achieve that goal by slapping me sore everyday. Maybe she didn’t like the fragrance of innocence, that always asked her where Daddy was, why he had left and instead, preferred the stench of cheap liquor.

“It’s good your Daddy left you.” I yelped as she caught hold of my hair and yanked me out. She lifted her glass bottle in the air and leered at me. “He would have beaten the out of me if he saw your face, you little bastard---”

The bottle came down and….

You’re not useless.

I shook my head. This didn’t happen. Who was this? No on had saved me, so what was this intervention? I reached out to feel the scars on my back and reminded myself that the bottle had hit its target. What was happening?

Listen to me. You’re not useless.

My last piece of consciousness helped me recognize the psychic EXO’s voice. I scanned the crowd and found him in a distance. Behind him was Woohyun, carrying an unconscious Kairi in his arms and exiting the chaos, while Yong Guk and Baekhyun were being dragged away by a tearful Zelo. His name was Luhan and Jiyong was standing next to him, his hand covering his face as he quickly mumbled something in his ear. Information. Jiyong wa giving him information.

Remember when Jiyong rescued you? Luhan said, a calm smile on his face. Remember when he rescued by disarming you during your mugging attempt and then, by telling you that he needed your talent, he found you a new family? You’re not useless, Byunghun.

I fell back, for a second later a bright light flashed itself in my eyes, the outline of Deer Boy’s head shining down on me. One by one, he began showing me true memories, people and words I had taken for granted and often appreciated but never responded to for fear of embarrassment. Sehun and I washing dishes, Youngjae running away from me after he beat me in Scrabble for the nth time, Zelo and Ricky continuously fighting on which maknae deserved spoiling as well as chores, Kairi glaring at me when I suggested she and Jiyeon swap boyfriends for a day, Chanyeol laughing at me every time I made excuses to avoid standing next to him and his stature, Taeyeon and I waltzing on the ballroom floor, not a trace of her widowhood visible in her laugh lines, Jiyong bringing me to the headquarters and introducing me to a then-mute Daehyun and an excited HImchan….

Finally, like the perfect end to a slideshow, I saw an unfamiliar face looking down at me with utmost pain in his eyes.

“I’m sorry kiddo,” he said and blinked back tears. “Duty calls.” The man kissed my forehead, fixed his army pants and whispered, “Daddy loves you.”

You’re not useless Byunghun.

I looked up and smiled at the glint of the axe. I turned to look at Taeyeon, who saw my expression and smiled.

“Had you been younger,” she said, “we could have had something.”

I grinned, then looked out to the crowd.

“I’m not useless,” I whispered.

The next thing I heard was the sound of heaven falling down. 

                                                                              ************************************************************               

An old woman emerged from her bedroom, struggling to open the balcony doors. She succeeded and carefully stepped out, raising her eyebrows at the parade of cars and military personnel flooding her neighbourhood. However, instead of marching down the road in their superior formality, the men were cackling like witches, singing songs of victory and clapping each other on their backs.

The woman, delighted to see such an atmosphere after a long time, called out to them. They looked up and waved at her.

"What happened to you young men?" she grinned. "You look like you defeated a monster!"

"Well..." an extremely lean and young man replied. "Not quite." His seniors began smacking his head, muttering incoherent but playful curses. The woman chuckled and looked towards a burly man, who opened his mouth to answer her. 

"We were told to look for a suspected group of youngsters somewhere around here. The public execution just ended, and it seems like they got the message and ran away!"

The man then furrowed his eyebrows. "By any chance, grandmother have you seen any groups like that...."

"Eh..." the old woman said, genuinely clueless. "All I do is live the last days of my life dependant on my army officer husband's savings! Humour me will you? Do I look like someone who can---"

"Okay okay...." The initial enthusiasm wore off and the men trudged away, singing the songs again.

The woman looked down at them fondly and beamed at the setting sun. Suddenly, her forehead wrinkled and in a moment of quiet epiphany, she began talking to herself.

"I definitely remember seeing a family move out this afternoon," she muttered. She remembered the sick girl who had to be carried in her husband's arms and the little child who was following her elder brother. 

"Aye..." she thought and shook her head. "Couldn't be them." And with that dismissive reassurance, the woman continued looking out to the dazed sun, shining its last piece of sunshine on the city that suddenly looked more alive than before.